Police Blotter: August 12, 2022
Friday, July 29
At 3:19 a.m. Claremont Police Department officers say they saw a grey BMW traveling near Auto Center Drive and Indian Hill Blvd. with equipment violations, including dark tinted windows and expired tags. They then conducted a traffic stop and asked the driver and a passenger for identification. While detaining the driver, police learned the passenger, later identified as Tarik Gatewood, 19, of Rancho Cucamonga, was lying about his name and had a gun in his possession. A search of Gatewood allegedly revealed a nine-millimeter ghost gun in a fanny pack around his waist, and two high-capacity magazines, one with 15 bullets and the other a 50-round drum magazine. A check of his true name revealed an active San Bernardino County arrest warrant. He was transported to CPD jail where was booked and released pending investigation of the felony ghost gun and misdemeanor providing false ID to a police officer charges. He was then transported to West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga for the warrant.
Sunday, July 31
A driver exiting the 210 Freeway at Towne Avenue at 8:30 p.m. received an unpleasant surprise when another driver leaving the freeway collided with the victim’s vehicle. Both drivers were on the westbound off-ramp, but as the victim began to make a left hand turn onto Towne, a black Honda Pilot allegedly crashed into the victim’s vehicle, causing an unknown amount of damage. The driver of the Pilot then proceeded to get back on the freeway to flee, but not before the victim caught a glimpse of the license plate, which was provided to police. This is an ongoing investigation and anyone with information should call the police at (909) 399-5411.
Monday, August 1
At 12:35 a.m. Claremont police were called to the Chevron/McDonalds at 860 S. Indian Hill Blvd. regarding an armed robbery that had just occurred. A store clerk said a suspect had gathered food items and left without paying, and when the clerk confronted him, he allegedly brandished a knife. Arriving officers checked the area and located a man who matched the description of the suspect a short distance away. Police say Fontana resident Jose Martinez, 19, admitted to taking the food and pulling a knife, and officers found the knife and the stolen property inside his backpack. The victim then positively identified the suspect and the knife, and police arrested Martinez for the robbery. While at the jail, a records check turned up a San Bernardino County warrant. Martinez was issued a citation to appear at Rancho Cucamonga Superior Court for the warrant and held on the felony robbery charge pending his arraignment in Pomona Superior Court.
Thursday, August 4
Between 7 p.m. and midnight Claremont police officers conducted a DUI-directed enforcement patrol funded by the California Office of Traffic Safety that netted several results, including the following three entries:
At 8:42 p.m. police saw a gold Toyota Camry exit Wine and Liquor Market, 750 S. Indian Hill Blvd., and head east on San Jose Avenue in the two-way left turn lane instead of the eastbound lane. Police conducted a traffic stop on Pomona resident Mica Maestas, 24, whom they say exhibited symptoms of alcohol intoxication.
They also say they saw an open bottle of tequila and open jar of marijuana in the car. Maestas reportedly refused to perform standard sobriety tests and was arrested for both DUI alcohol and DUI marijuana. He was then transported to CPD headquarters, booked, and held for detoxification. He was later released with a citation.
At 9:01 p.m. officers reportedly saw a grey Honda Civic in the 800 block of Indian Hill with non-functioning lights. They pulled over Pomona resident Domingo Suarez Marin, 49, at Indian Hill Boulevard and San Bernardino Road. A records check showed Suarez Marin was driving on a suspended license for a previous DUI arrest. He was transported, booked, and released with a citation.
Police responded to a 9:18 p.m. solo traffic collision that netted another DUI arrest. Claremont resident Javier Gutierrez, 43, was reportedly seen driving east on Base Line Road approaching Indian Hill Boulevard when he collided with the center median, disabling his vehicle and taking out several small city trees. Gutierrez provided police with a driver’s license but refused medical treatment from L.A. County Fire Department paramedics.
Officers say they smelled the odor of alcohol on Gutierrez, and he displayed symptoms of intoxication. They then administered field sobriety tests and arrested him for DUI. He was transported to the CPD jail and held for detoxification before being released with a citation.
Friday, August 5
At 8:15 p.m. officers allegedly observed a car traveling at about 30 miles per hour blow through the four-way stop at San Jose and College avenues. Police conducted a traffic stop and questioned the driver, Pomona resident Carlos Sandoval, 22. Sandoval did not have any identification and a records check revealed he had never been issued driver’s license. He was arrested for being an unlicensed driver and his vehicle was impounded. He was transported, booked, and released with a citation. The vehicle was later released to a licensed driver.
Another alleged stop sign violation resulted in a 10:48 p.m. DUI arrest after police say Upland resident Daniel Rincon Amaro, 22, rolled through the stop sign at Bonita and Berkeley avenues, which is conveniently located right in front of the Claremont police station. Officers conducted a traffic stop and say Rincon Amaro exhibited symptoms of alcohol intoxication. They performed field sobriety tests and a preliminary alcohol level test which they say showed Rincon Amaro was two-and-a-half times over the legal limit to drive. He was arrested, booked, and held for detoxification before being released with a citation.
Saturday, August 6
Police received a call at 1:24 a.m. about a man sleeping in a car in the parking lot of Motel 6, 840 S. Indian Hill Blvd. Officers located Beaumont, California resident Tyrice Nelson, 26, who reportedly became argumentative when he was awakened. A records check revealed he was on probation and had two outstanding L.A. County warrants. He was arrested, booked, and released with a citation to appear in court.
Monday, August 8
At 2:28 a.m. one of Claremont’s license plate reader cameras captured images of a vehicle allegedly involved in thefts that occurred in the city in December 2021 and this past May. Claremont police officers tracked the car to the 600 block of Bonita Avenue, where they later saw two people leave a nearby apartment building and get into the vehicle. Officers then conducted a traffic stop and records check on the two occupants, revealing both had Los Angeles County warrants.
The driver, West Covina resident John Lopez, 28, was arrested for his warrants, possession of methamphetamine and possession of burglary tools. The passenger, Montclair resident Lorena Palacios, 49, was arrested for her warrants, possession of a controlled substance, meth, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a meth pipe.
They were transported to Claremont police station, booked, and each released with a citation to appear at Pomona Superior Court.
Officers on patrol at 4:12 a.m. say they saw a woman rifling through recyclables, a violation of city municipal code, at the Chevron station, 267 S. Indian Hill Blvd. The suspect, a 30-year-old unhoused Pomona woman, provided an ID, and a subsequent records check revealed six arrest warrants from San Bernardino County. She was arrested, booked, and released with a citation to appear at the Rancho Cucamonga Superior Court.
